Before violent games like “Mortal Kombat” created panic among parents there was “Street Fighter II.” The second installment of that storied franchise became a global success thanks to its arcade incarnation before a home release helped launch the 2D fighting genre in the 1990s. And then there’s the 1994 “Street Fighter” film, but let’s not talk about hat. Legendary wants to wipe that cinematic slate clean, as they grabbed the film and TV rights to the video game franchise from Capcom with hopes of putting together a feature film first.
And now The Hollywood Reporter reports that Legendary has named Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou, aka, The Philippou Brothers to direct their live-action movie remake. The Australian twins are on the rise in Hollywood right now after gaining popularity on YouTube, and their acclaimed Sundance horror pic “Talk To Me,” acquired by A24 Films, will hit theaters in July. Interestingly enough, the duo has teased on social media a wave of big industry meetings, including the newly reformed DC Studios, Lucasfilm, Jordan Peele‘s Monkeypaw Productions, and Blumhouse‘s Jason Blum. “Street Fighter” is their first big studio project, but it may lead to many more.
As mentioned above, “Street Fighter” gained popularity after its initial release in 1991, with Capcom about to release “Street Fighter 6” in June. For those not familiar with the game, it follows a group of skilled international fighters from all over the world as they compete in a tournament and use specific moves/superpowers specific to each combatant. Some of those popular fighters include Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Guile, Cammy, Blanka, Vega, M. Bison, Akuma, and the addition of various heroes/villains from Capcom’s beat-em-up “Final Fight” games. Hopefully, the new take will focus on the tournament aspect, which was largely ignored in the previous live-action adaptations.
Of course, Legendary are the ones making projects set within the Monsterverse franchise with “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” and an Apple TV+ series “Godzilla & The Titans” on the horizon. They also previously made “Dectective Pikachu,” a successful hybrid film starring Ryan Reynolds and Justice Smith that was loosely based on the “Pokemon” video games, which is getting a sequel soon. In short, Legendary knows how to develop IP projects for a global audience, so it’s likely they’ll do so for “Street Fighter.” They can’t do any worse than the 1994, widely considered a flop despite building it around Belgian action star Jean Claude Van Damme as Guile; and the less said about the follow-up reboot film “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li” the better.
However, despite the Philippous’ involvement, no word yet on who will pen the film’s script. So, this means the film isn’t ready to begin filming anytime soon but is just starting to get into fighting shape. More info on “Street Fighter” soon.